The Last Good Bye
by Sleepandsheeps
Summary: One fateful night, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger met up at a Ministry-hosted function to catch up and get the closure they should have gotten when they broke up five years ago. Post-Hogwarts, EWE, One-shot.


**Disclaimer :: The following is a work of fan fiction based on the popular series Harry Potter created by the wonderful JK Rowling. No offense is intended towards JK Rowling or her work. However, this fan fiction is 100% written by me unless otherwise indicated.**

The conscious feel of his intense gaze made her look up from the champagne glass she had been drinking from. He stood there at the threshold to the lounge looking ever so dashing in his crisp white shirt, black pants, and Slytherin green blazer. His pale, blond hair was swept to the side and each tendril that loosely brushed his face further emphasized the sharpness of his jaw line and piercing vivid eyes.

He looked beautiful.

It wasn't simply because of his dashing features although that was, of course, a major factor. No, it was in the way he carried himself. Confidence and grace oozed from his every movement whether it was simply brushing some strands of hair from his eyes or taking several steps forward. In other words, the sight of Draco Malfoy standing there took her breath away.

"It's been a while, Granger." He said, the indifference in his voice nudging her heart in a familiar but painful way. "Why are you here in this dump?"

Hermione wanted to ask him the same question since he wasn't out there mingling with the party guests either, but she ignored him and simply grazed her eyes around the room he called a 'dump'. To the average person, the small room would have been adequate with a sofa and a rectangular coffee table situated in the middle of the room.

He cleared his throat.

If one dismissed the varied selection of crinkled, discarded papers all over the floor near the living room set, this room was definitely a spot for contemplation.

He cleared his throat again.

She turned her eyes towards the man standing rather uncomfortably by the door, looking at her as if waiting for an answer. At one point, she realized he did ask her a question.

"Enjoying the silence," Hermione replied curtly. "Now get lost."

She drained the glass of champagne and set it down on the floor next to her before leaning back against the wall. The freezing contrast of the cold wall against her warm, bare flesh made her jerk slightly in surprise, but then her shoulders relaxed under its comforting touch. She closed her eyes, looking for peace, yet the silence that met up with her was not at all enjoyable.

Even with her eyes closed, she could still sense him staring at her with that intense—almost berserk—gaze. It made her self-conscious. She hadn't thought about how exposed her body was until she consciously sensed him roam her body with his eyes, stopping to pause at the bareness of her legs.

She shifted her pose uncomfortably. Footsteps soon followed as the door behind him closed. She gripped the hem of her dress and held her breath in anticipation. Goosebumps appeared on her porcelain skin long before she felt something rough and warm brush up against her arm.

"No," Draco said. His voice was fluidly smooth, so deep, and so near her that she bit her lip from screaming at the sheer intimacy. "I think I'll join you."

Hermione opened her eyes. Draco Malfoy was sitting on the floor in his rather expensive clothes with his eyes closed and his head pressed against the wall like she had hers. She didn't know when or how he had taken off his shoes and socks without her knowledge but like her, he too was barefoot.

He was sitting so close to her that their hands would have touched if she didn't keep hers gripped on the hem of her dress. True to his words, he was trying to enjoy the silence because there were no wrinkles in between his eyebrows. He always wrinkled his face in a scowl when he felt uncomfortable.

She gazed at his face. It has been many years since they parted and now that she had a chance to study him carefully, she couldn't help but notice how only a few things had changed about him. Apart from the fact that he no longer kept his random rounds of stubbles, she couldn't really pin point anything else to indicate that he changed. It was amazing really. While she had changed many aspects of her life, he was ever so constant. It was like he had not been affected by their separation at all.

When that thought pounded on Hermione's heart, she pressed her head harder against the wall and closed her eyes. She wanted to forget his presence and simply try and calm her heart but she knew it was a bad idea the moment darkness took her sight. At once all, her senses attacked her in rounds of information about the man next to her.

The scent of his familiar after-shave entering her nostrils, the faint presence of his warmth, and the sound of his heaving breathe created needless disturbances to her body and mind. She was experiencing vivid shots of nostalgia and longing at the same time and she didn't like it.

"I'm going ba—" Hermione scrambled to her feet.

"Stay," said Draco. She looked down at him. His hand was oddly suspended in the air—as if he had tried to reach out to her— with the fingers slightly trembling. He returned his hand back to his side and looked away when she continued to stare at him, wide-eyed in surprise and confusion. "Why won't you stay?"

"You know I can't stand silence, Malfoy."

His lips curved upward in a smile and Draco slowly turned to look at her.

"But you said you wanted to enjoy the silence." He mocked.

She glared at him.

"Not with you here."

"Then we could always talk." A pause. "Sit back down though. Your dress is too short for you to be standing up like that."

Hermione glanced down at herself and realized that the man sitting on the floor could easily see up past the hem of her dress if he wanted. She blushed and sat back down again, opting to take a seat on the floor at least a foot away from the man instead of returning to her original spot. He chuckled and shook his head. A small silence passed through the room with the occasional loud shouts or bursts of music from the party outside.

"Where is your wife?" She cringed severely inside as she asked the question.

"She left," Draco replied curtly. "She doesn't really like Ministry functions and she's been sick lately. Then again, you know that."

"You didn't accompany her?"

"Do you think that I, Draco Malfoy, would let my pregnant wife leave by herself in a party full of vile, drunk Ministry bastards?"

"Well, we all know how you love to drink."

He let out hearty laugh.

"Merlin's beard that was when we first started dating, Granger. How was I to know you couldn't hold your liquor?"

"There's something called manners, Malfoy. It's one thing for you to take a girl on a date but it's another thing for you to make sure she gets home safe."

"Alright, so I apologize for leaving you that one night to buy more drinks. But in my defense, it was for a good cause."

"For you or for me?"

"For both of us."

"Oh, so you were being presumptuous."

"No, simply bold."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his smart aleck retort.

"Excessively so."

"Why aren't you here with that god awful Weasley?" Draco inquired, off topic.

"We broke up a while ago."

"Why? I thought you two were perfect for each other."

The ironic comment wasn't missed by either of them but both ignored it. To bring it up would destroy the flow of the conversation, already broken as it is.

"He wanted marriage. I did not."

Draco's hand reached out to her.

"Love…"

His touch seared her skin and she withdrew from him, surprised and vexed at his daring action. He returned her gaze with a soft, lingering spark in his eyes. Then, he burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Hermione snapped.

"Nothing, nothing." He said. His laughter said something different. "It's just…"

"Just what?" She asked irritated.

"You haven't changed at all."

"I beg to differ," Hermione whispered before inching a few inches further away from him.

Draco said nothing of her actions. Instead, he focused his gaze around the room as he thought of what to say next.

"How are you?"

"Malfoy, I didn't come to this party to answer your asinine questions."

"What we're having is a simple exchange of pleasantries, love. And please, don't be so formal. Just call me what you usually call me."

"No, I insist." Hermione did not look at him as she too looked around the room. "Please address me as Hermione or Granger. Do not call me… Well, that."

"Relax, Hermione." Draco replied, drawling out her name. "Why are you so tense?"

Her eyes seethed with anger as she turned to look at him. He, in turn, looked back with an innocent look in his eyes.

"I honestly don't know why I'm putting up with you right now, Malfoy. Why are you even here?"

"It's been a while since we… talked. I wanted to catch up with you, see how you've been, that sort of thing."

"Since when did Draco Malfoy, the heir to the noble and most ancient wizarding family play catch up with a muggle-born like me?" She ignored the wince that quickly touched his face at the mention of blood status. "That aside, five years is a long time to catch up with. I don't think you should bother."

"I got married to Astoria." Draco confessed suddenly. He played with his wedding band. "She's a wonderful woman who works very hard for our family. We both do." He paused. "Astoria is absolutely endearing and sweet. With the amount of all nighters I pull trying to finish projects here and there, she would always be there for me to chat and keep me awake. She understands my needs. I find it adorable."

"She sounds like an amazing wife." Hermione said bitterly.

"The best."

When she heard his reply, it was like someone took her heart and gave it a tight, strangling squeeze.

"You must be very happy then."

"I am."

She slowly nodded.

"Do you love her?"

The question came out before she knew what she was saying. She held her breath as her eyes suddenly held his intense gaze. She was afraid of him. She was afraid of what his answer might be, afraid that the utterance of his answer would hurt her like his words had hurt her years before, afraid of being unable to change anything about anyone whether it was him or her, Astoria or Ron. And… She was afraid that he would—with one single word—end everything they ever had. Even if what they had was destroyed a long time ago.

"No." Draco smiled. "But after you, she's the best I could do."

Hermione let out a nervous laugh. Her face flustered.

"Rubbish."

"I am not spewing rubbish." Draco replied without missing a beat.

The laughter died in her throat as she met his intense gaze again. In the back of her mind, she knew and wished for it. But perhaps she didn't want to know, didn't want to acknowledge that what he felt was the same thing she felt, didn't want it and the reason was visibly obvious. It was impossible now.

Too late now.

Five years was a long time to catch up with. Hermione took a deep breath and pulled herself up from the floor. Standing in a manner that prevented him from looking up her dress, she dusted her buttocks and looked down at him.

"I should get going." Hermione said with finality. "It's late and I have work tomorrow. You should go home to your wife too."

She nodded her head in acknowledgment and hurriedly walked to the door.

"Hermione, I meant what I said!" Draco shouted after her. His voice made her stop in her tracks. "She was the best I could do after you left."

Her grip on the doorknob tightened and when her emotions overtook her mind, she turned around to glare at Draco as he stood up from his seat on the floor.

"I guess I should have been more like her then!" Hermione shouted back. "It's obvious that she had something I lacked."

"You were perfect the way you were," he whispered. "I love you the way you were."

"Don't play games with me." She hissed. "You broke up with me, Draco. It was your choice."

"What choice? You walked out on me, remember? I didn't make any choices."

"Yes, you did or we wouldn't be here right now!" Hermione bit her lip to stop it from quivering. She refused to let him see that her weakness was he. "We would have been married by now if it wasn't for you and your unwillingness to commit to me. Did you ever realize that?"

Draco nodded, not bothering to deny her accusations.

"Yes."

"Draco Malfoy," Hermione laughed bitterly. "Always a wizard with unrelenting arrogance."

"Hermione Granger, always the vexing, little witch I've come to…"

The soft melody of a familiar song slowly resonated through the room from the party next door. The song that had marked their beginning and imminent end was playing in the background. Draco Malfoy's and Hermione Granger's eyes roamed the room until they found one another.

As if they saw their own desires reflected in each other's eyes, the two of them took steps to close the distance between them. As soon as they were at arm's length, they stopped. He flashed her a bright smile and offered her his hand like he did the first time they had danced together. She rolled her eyes at his fake chivalrous ways and cautiously set her hand on top of hers.

Whether or not he felt the electricity that ran through their fingers, the flame that suddenly accompanied the sparks in his eyes said everything. He quickly closed his hand over hers and pulled her closer to him. His other arm slipped around her waist and held her there trapped in his arms as if he never wanted to let her go.

Hermione buried her face on his chest and closed her eyes, gently feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out. The smell of his musk and cologne still entranced her. Draco propped his chin on top of her head, gently so that the pressure wouldn't hurt her, and he too closed his eyes.

It was obvious by the small and deliberately slow movements they made that they wanted to enjoy this dance and the moment they shared. He wanted to feel the faint touches of her hair brushing against his chin as he held her body close to his. She wanted to listen to his heartbeat as she leaned against him and feel his warm arms protecting her in its grasp. Between the two of them, Draco and Hermione shared many unspoken desires.

But most of all, they both wanted this moment to never end.

FIN

AN :: Angst, angst. Lol. Please read and review! Thanks. This is a one-shot.


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